United States v. Jamie Matlick Farris, United States of America v. Marcus Theodore Baumann, United States of America v. Carl Richard Tamuty

Jamie Matlick (Kelly) Farris and Marcus Theodore Baumann appeal their convictions on two counts each of securities fraud in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a). Carl Richard Tamuty appeals his conviction on nine counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . We affirm in part, and reverse in part.

I. FACTS

The appellants were among 23 individuals and firms indicted for securities fraud and mail fraud in connection with a Ponzi scheme which, for a time, produced a substantial cash flow from the interstate sales of real estate mortgage notes and connected instruments in Arizona.

The fountainhead of the scheme was the late William Steuer, founder of Cochise College Park, an investment company. Steuer died before the indictments in these cases were handed down. But the activities he set in motion resulted in criminal prosecutions for his individual and corporate associates.

In 1966 Cochise College Park acquired actual or paper interest in Arizona land, subdivided the land into lots and, during the next few years, sold lots. Each buyer supposedly made a down payment for a lot and signed a promissory note secured by a mortgage on the lot for the remainder of the purchase price.…